Mass Activation of Network Devices

1. A method comprising: generating, with a management device, a bulk configlet executable by a plurality of network devices to be managed by the management device, wherein the bulk configlet specifies a bulk identifier associated with the plurality of network devices, wherein the bulk identifier is associated with information on the management device indicating that specific configuration information is to be sent to the plurality of network devices in response to receiving network session requests from the plurality of network devices specifying the bulk identifier as an identifier for the plurality of network devices, and wherein the bulk configlet is configured to cause, during execution, each of the plurality of network devices to initialize a respective network stack and connect to the management device over a network using the network stack; receiving, with the management device, a network session request from one of the plurality of network devices via the network, wherein the network session request specifies the bulk identifier as an identifier for the one of the plurality of network devices; and based on the network session request specifying the bulk identifier, sending, with the management device, specific configuration data, to replace the bulk configlet, to the one of the plurality of network devices in response to receiving the network session request that specifies the bulk identifier, wherein the specific configuration data includes a specific identifier to replace the bulk identifier, and wherein the specific configuration data is configured to cause, during execution, the one of the plurality of network devices to reconnect to the management device using the specific identifier and to become fully enabled.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising assigning an Internet protocol address to the one of the plurality of network devices according to Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network session request comprises a first network session request, wherein the one of the plurality of network devices comprises a first one of the plurality of network devices, and wherein sending specific configuration data comprises sending a first set of specific configuration data to the one of the plurality of network devices, the method further comprising: receiving a second network session request from a second one of the plurality of network devices, wherein the second network session request includes the bulk identifier; and sending a second set of specific configuration data to the one of the plurality of network devices, wherein the second set of specific configuration data differs from the first set of specific configuration data.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving a schema that defines one or more requirements for the bulk configlet with respect to the plurality of network devices; and validating, with the management device, the generated bulk configlet against the received schema.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the received schema defines a minimum number of occurrences for at least one element of the bulk configlet.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the received schema defines a maximum number of occurrences for at least one element of the bulk configlet.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the received schema comprises an extensible markup language (XML) schema, and wherein the generated bulk configlet comprises an XML file.

8. The method of claim 4 , wherein the received schema defines an ask-info element for the bulk configlet, and wherein generating the bulk configlet comprises generating an ask-info element for the bulk configlet, wherein the ask-info element of the bulk configlet is configured to cause a network device executing the bulk configlet to prompt a user for data for the corresponding element.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the ask-info element of the bulk configlet comprises a hostname ask-info element that is configured to cause a network device executing the bulk configlet to prompt a user for a network hostname to be used by the network device.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising maintaining, with the management device, a plurality of device objects in a database, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of device objects corresponds to the plurality of network devices, and wherein the device objects correspond to elements of a network model for a network including the plurality of network devices.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising: receiving a number N defining a number of the plurality of network devices; generating, within the network model, N device objects comprising the plurality of device objects in the database before receiving any network session request from any of the plurality of network devices; and generating, within the network model, a bulk device object to represent the device objects in the database, wherein sending specific configuration data comprises retrieving configuration data from one of the plurality of device objects that is next available, associating the one of the plurality of device objects with the one of the plurality of network devices, and updating a next available device object pointer to identify a second next available one of the plurality of device objects.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising: dynamically creating, within the model, one of the plurality of device objects upon receiving the network session request, wherein maintaining the plurality of device objects comprises adding the dynamically created one of the plurality of device objects to the database and associating the one of the plurality of network devices with the dynamically created one of the plurality of device objects, wherein sending specific configuration data comprises sending configuration data from the dynamically created one of the plurality of device objects to the one of the plurality of network devices as the specific configuration data.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein maintaining a plurality of device objects comprises assigning a unique Internet protocol address and a unique device name to each of the plurality of device objects.

14. A management device comprising: a computer-readable medium encoded with instructions for a configlet generator module and a device manager module; and a processor to execute modules stored in the computer-readable medium of the management device; wherein the processor executes the configlet generator module to generate a bulk configlet executable by a plurality of network devices to be managed by the management device, wherein the bulk configlet specifies a bulk identifier associated with the plurality of network devices, wherein the bulk identifier is associated with information on the management device indicating that specific configuration information is to be sent to the plurality of network devices in response to receiving network session requests from the plurality of network devices specifying the bulk identifier as an identifier for the plurality of network devices, and wherein the bulk configlet is configured to cause, during execution, each of the plurality of network devices to initialize a respective network stack and connect to the management device over a network using the network stack, and wherein the processor executes the device manager module to receive a network session request from one of the plurality of network devices via the network, wherein the network session request specifies the bulk identifier as an identifier for the one of the plurality of network devices, and based on the network session request specifying the bulk identifier, to send specific configuration data, to replace the bulk configlet, to the one of the plurality of network devices in response to the network session request that specifies the bulk identifier, wherein the specific configuration data includes a specific identifier to replace the bulk identifier, and wherein the specific configuration data is configured to cause, during execution, the one of the plurality of network devices to reconnect to the management device using the specific identifier and to become fully enabled.

15. The management device of claim 14 , wherein the specific configuration data sent by the device manager module comprises a specific Internet protocol address for the one of the plurality of network devices.

16. The management device of claim 14 , wherein the configlet generator module is configured to receive a schema that defines one or more requirements for the bulk configlet with respect to the plurality of network devices and to validate the generated bulk configlet against the received schema.

17. The management device of claim 16 , wherein the schema defines a hostname ask-info element, and wherein the bulk configlet generator module is configured to generate the bulk configlet to include a hostname ask-info element that is configured to cause a network device executing the bulk configlet to prompt a user for a network hostname to be used by the network device.

18. The management device of claim 14 , further comprising a database interface, wherein the device manager module is further configured to maintain a plurality of device objects in a database via the database interface, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of device objects corresponds to the plurality of network devices, and wherein the device objects correspond to elements of a network model for a network including the plurality of network devices.

19. The management device of claim 18 , wherein the configlet generator module is configured to receive a number N corresponding to a number of the plurality of network devices, and wherein the device manager is configured to generate, within the network model, N device objects as the plurality of device objects and to assign a unique Internet protocol address and a unique device name to each of the plurality of device objects, wherein the device objects represent respective ones of the plurality of network devices, and wherein the device manager module is configured to associate the one of the plurality of network devices with one of the plurality of device objects that is available and to send configuration data comprising the corresponding unique Internet protocol address and the unique device name from the one of the plurality of device objects as the specific configuration data to the one of the plurality of network devices.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with instructions for causing a programmable processor of a management device for managing a plurality of network devices to be managed by the management device to: generate a bulk configlet executable by the plurality of network devices, wherein the bulk configlet specifies a bulk identifier associated with the plurality of network devices, wherein the bulk identifier is associated with information on the management device indicating that specific configuration information is to be sent to the plurality of network devices in response to receiving network session requests from the plurality of network devices specifying the bulk identifier as an identifier for the plurality of network devices, and wherein the bulk configlet is configured to cause, during execution, each of the plurality of network devices to initialize a respective network stack and connect to the management device over a network using the network stack; receive a network session request from one of the plurality of network devices via the network, wherein the network session request specifies the bulk identifier as an identifier for the one of the plurality of network devices; and based on the network session request specifying the bulk identifier, send specific configuration data, to replace the bulk configlet, to the one of the plurality of network devices in response to the received network session request that specifies the bulk identifier, wherein the specific configuration data includes a specific identifier to replace the bulk identifier, and wherein the specific configuration data is configured to cause, during execution, the one of the plurality of network devices to reconnect to the management device using the specific identifier and to become fully enabled.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20 , wherein the specific configuration data comprises a specific Internet protocol address for the one of the plurality of network devices.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20 , further comprising instructions to: receive a schema that defines one or more requirements for the bulk configlet with respect to the plurality of network devices; and validate the generated bulk configlet against the received schema.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22 , wherein the received schema defines a hostname ask-info element, and wherein the instructions to generate the bulk configlet comprise instructions to include in the bulk configlet a hostname ask-info element that is configured to cause a network device executing the bulk configlet to prompt a user for a network hostname to be used by the network device.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20 , further comprising instructions to: receive a number N corresponding to a number of the plurality of network devices; and generate, within a network model for a network including the plurality of network devices, N device objects to represent one or more of the plurality of network devices, wherein the instructions to generate the N device objects comprise instructions to assign a unique Internet protocol address and a unique device name to each of the device objects, wherein the instructions to send specific configuration data comprise instructions to associate the one of the plurality of network devices with one of the plurality of device objects that is available and instructions to send configuration data comprising the corresponding unique Internet protocol address and the unique device name from the one of the plurality of device objects as the specific configuration data to the one of the plurality of network devices.

25. A system comprising: a plurality of network devices; a management device comprising: a computer-readable medium encoded with instructions for a configlet generator module and a device manager module; and a processor to execute modules stored in the computer-readable medium of the management device; wherein the processor executes the configlet generator module to generate a bulk configlet executable by the plurality of network devices, wherein the plurality of network devices are to be managed by the management device, wherein the bulk configlet specifies a bulk identifier associated with the plurality of network devices, wherein the bulk identifier is associated with information on the management device indicating that specific configuration information is to be sent to the plurality of network devices in response to receiving network session requests from the plurality of network devices specifying the bulk identifier as an identifier for the plurality of network devices, wherein the processor executes the configlet generator module to encode the bulk configlet to a second computer-readable medium, and wherein the bulk configlet is configured to cause, during execution, each of the plurality of network devices to initialize a respective network stack and connect to the management device over a network using the network stack, and wherein the processor executes the device manager module to receive a network session request from one of the plurality of network devices via the network, wherein the network session request specifies the bulk identifier, and based on the network session request specifying the bulk identifier, to send specific configuration data, to replace the bulk configlet, to the one of the plurality of network devices in response to the network session request that specifies the bulk identifier, wherein the specific configuration data comprises a unique Internet protocol address and a unique device name, wherein the specific configuration data includes a specific identifier to replace the bulk identifier, and wherein the specific configuration data is configured to cause, during execution, the one of the plurality of network devices to reconnect to the management device and to become fully enabled, wherein the one of the plurality of network devices is configured to load the bulk configlet from the second computer-readable medium, execute the bulk configlet, send the bulk identifier to the management device during execution of the bulk configlet, receive the specific configuration data from the management device in response to sending the bulk identifier to the bulk configlet, store the specific configuration data, and execute the specific configuration data to reconnect to the management device using the specific identifier and become fully enabled.

26. A method comprising: loading, with a network device, a bulk configlet; executing the bulk configlet during a boot cycle to initialize a network stack, extract a bulk identifier from the bulk configlet, and establish a network session with a management device, wherein the bulk identifier is associated with a plurality of network devices, including the network device, to be managed by the management device, and wherein the bulk identifier is associated with information on the management device indicating that specific configuration information is to be sent to the plurality of network devices in response to receiving network session requests from the plurality of network devices specifying the bulk identifier as an identifier for the plurality of network devices; sending the bulk identifier of the bulk configlet, over a network using the network stack, to the management device during execution of the bulk configlet to cause the management device to send specific configuration data to the network device; receiving the specific configuration data from the management device, via the network, in response to sending the bulk identifier to the management device, wherein the specific configuration data includes a specific identifier to replace the bulk identifier, and wherein the specific configuration data replaces the bulk configlet; and executing the specific configuration data to reconnect to the management device using the specific identifier and to become fully enabled.

27. The method of claim 26 , wherein executing the bulk configlet comprises receiving a hostname from a user to use during the network session.

28. The method of claim 26 , wherein executing the bulk configlet comprises establishing the network session with the bulk identifier as a device name for the network device.

29. The method of claim 1 , wherein the bulk configlet includes information to be used when constructing the network stack.

30. The method of claim 29 , wherein the information comprises instructions for obtaining an Internet protocol (IP) address, wherein the bulk configlet is configured to cause each of the plurality of network devices to use the IP address obtained according to the instructions for obtaining the IP address until receiving the specific configuration information, and wherein the specific configuration information includes a specific IP address for the one of the plurality of network devices to replace the IP address obtained according the instructions of the bulk configlet.

31. The method of claim 30 , further comprising receiving a network communication from the one of the plurality of network devices, wherein the network communication indicates the specific IP address as the IP address for the one of the plurality of network devices.

32. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of network devices comprises a first plurality of network devices, wherein the bulk configlet comprises a first bulk configlet, and wherein the bulk identifier comprises a first bulk identifier, the method further comprising: generating a second bulk configlet executable by a second plurality of network devices to be managed by the management device, wherein the second bulk configlet specifies a second bulk identifier associated with the second plurality of network devices, wherein the second bulk configlet is associated with information on the management device indicating that specific configuration information is to be sent to the second plurality of network devices in response to receiving network session requests from the second plurality of network devices specifying the second bulk identifier as an identifier for the second plurality of network devices, and wherein the second bulk configlet is configured to cause, during execution, each of the second plurality of network devices to initialize a respective network stack and connect to the management device over the network using the network stack; in response to receiving a second network session request from a second network device: determining an identifier specified in the second network session request; in response to determining that the identifier comprises the first bulk identifier, sending specific configuration information associated with the first plurality of network devices to the second network device; in response to determining that the identifier comprises the second bulk identifier, sending specific configuration information associated with the second plurality of network devices to the second network device; and in response to determining that the identifier comprises a specific identifier, managing the second network device.